According to SIAL CHINA， the 13th China International Food and Beverages Exhibition (SIAL China 2012) will be held in Shanghai New International Expo Center On May 9， 2012. It is hosted together by COMEXPOSIUM and China Business Development Center. Since it was introduced in China for the first time in 2000， SIAL CHINA has maintained a developed speed. Especially in recent years， relying on both foreign and domestic markets， it expanded the influences quickly and became one of the most important food trade exhibitions in Asia， despite of the financial crisis.According to the statistics， SIAL China 2011 had an exhibiting area of more than 60，000 square meters， 25% larger compared to 2010， with 1，520 exhibitors， 15% more than last year. It had 33，265 professional visitors from 86 countries and regions， having an increase of 9% over 2010， and the exhibitors came from 76 countries and regions， of which France， Italy， the United States， South Korea， Japan and other 19 countries formed exhibiting teams. Meanwhile， domestic departments and organizations such as Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (FECC) of China Ministry of Agriculture， China Dairy Industry Association， institutions and local governments in Shandong， Zhejiang， Shanghai， etc. also sent exhibiting groups.Survey shows that exhibiting enterprises had an overall satisfaction degree to the exhibition of 84%， marking the highest in recent five years. Domestic and oversea visitors had a satisfaction degree of 96% and 93% respectively. 89% of surveyed domestic visitors said that they had talked with exhibitors， among which 71% reached intentions of cooperation with exhibiting enterprises. “Business people come to SIAL China looking for promising products.I think it’s a very good event. Definitely around like 10-15 may be we gonna have promising partnerships.”Yong Ji Suk from Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp said.Another feature of SIAL China 2011 was the outstanding achievements of special exhibiting zone. For example， Wine and Spirits Zone first launched in SIAL China 2011 gathered 320 producers and trade companies of wine， alcohol and alcoholic beverage around the world， taking an area of ten thousand square meters and forming the largest high-end wine trade platform. Foreign exhibitors in Wine and Spirit Zone were mainly of the exhibiting groups from France， Spain， Portugal， Greece， Italy， Australia and Germany seven countries， while domestic exhibitors were mainly agents of foreign wines， and exhibiting products include middle and high-end wines and spirits from French， Italy， Spain， Portuguese， Australia， the United States， Japan， Chile， China and other 16 countries and regions.Confectionery， Sweets Snacks Zone was very successful too， attracting 180 enterprise exhibitors， and taking an area of more than ten thousand square meters， increasing by 20% over last year. 80% of the participating enterprises adopted specially designed and demonstrated booth， making the most attractable exhibiting region in SIAL China 2011 and contributing to 97% of visitor satisfaction. Keith Schneller， Director of U.S. Consulate General， Shanghai expressed his satisfaction， “I think the visitors have been very high level. A lot of variety visitors coming from around China. So a lot of com- panies who are interested in importing and carrying American products for the first time and some of them are old friends that we’ve been working with for many years. I’m sure the majority of American exhibitors will find some good partners and develop market elationships in the future. So thank you SIAL China for your great support!”Based the high growth of SIAL China 2011， the organizers and domestic and foreign partners are preparing for next exhibition. It is learned that SIAL China 2012 will attract about 1，800 domestic and oversea exhibitors and 37，000 professional visitors， having an increase of 20% and 10% respectively; take an area of seventy thousand square meters， up by 25%. It is estimated that wine and spirits zone will attract 400 domestic and oversea wine enterprise exhibitors， up by 25%， and a number of 7，500 professional visitors， up by 20%.According to the organizers， the exhibition will continue to focus on product zones， such as Snacks， Canned and Preserved Food， Frozen， Coffee Tea and Beverage， etc， while boost provinces， autonomous regions and cities to participate in the exhibition in teams， for further publicity and promotion of local feature products and encouraging exports of agricultural products. Besides， SIAL China 2012 will have product zones of Fruits Vegetables， Condiments and “Overseas Gourmet Fine Food” for the first time. In addition to those professional events during the exhibition， SIAL China 2012 will host activities like oneon-one business meetings for oversea wine， taste show for leisure food， chef team compeition， hospitality forum， coffee trends area， raw materials cooking demonstration and so on.
